Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight

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If it's not Scottish, it's crap... luckily, this modern classic is (Scottish, that is).

By Chad Grischow

What do you get when you blend emotionally off-key vocals that sound as though sung by the Scottish-born son of Adam Duritz and Michael Stipe with the rollicking acoustic rock sound of The Decemberists? Quite simply, one of the best damn albums you are likely to stumble upon this year.

Frightened Rabbit might sound like a worn child's fable, but this Scottish indie rock quartet is anything but warm and fuzzy. Although a foursome, brothers Scott and Grant Hutchinson, who founded the band, drive the sound. Scott's gloriously moaned out vocals roll over Grant's constantly thumping beats, as if he is testing the limits of the skins versus the drumsticks at all times. All the while, the thrashing riffs whirl around in preparation of the startlingly emotional hooks. So often, bands that shoot for the stars repeatedly with overwhelming cathartic songs wear you out long before the album is over, but Frightened Rabbit leaves you in a state of sonic ecstasy; constantly craving more.

The album takes a cold, hard look at love, with a twisted, drunken eye. The chill inducing jangle of "The Modern Leper" stumbles out of the speakers like the most fantastically rambling indie pop tune you are likely to hear this year. Hutchinson wonders aloud why his woman keeps coming back despite his self-destructive nature, "Well I crippled your heart a hundred times / And still can't work out why / You see I've got this disease I can't shake / And I'm just rattling through life". The howling hook and swollen bundle of swirling riffs, drums, and pleading vocals turn it into an unshakable listen. Things turn darker on "Good Arms Vs. Bad Arms", where a man comes to grips with being cheated on. Things start with a softly clicking beat and breezy acoustic before swelling into an emotional stumbling waltz, as he frustratingly confesses, "I'm armed with the past, and a will, and a brick / I might not want you back, but I want to kill him".

Although the album is never quite sunny, it is not all piss and vinegar either. They take a more restrained tone on the twee pop sound of "Old Old Fashioned", a loving ode to forgetting about technology and reconnecting. Drippy stand-up bass drives the tune over a country-fried rapid-fire acoustic shuffle as the vocals beg, "Aw, turn off the TV / It's killing us, we never speak / There's a radio in the corner / It's dying to make us see". Reconnecting with a lover drives the gorgeous acoustic "Poke", where Hutchinson's nervous vocals brilliantly fit the anxious feeling about a relationship he is not sure still exists, "I'd say she was his sister / But she doesn't have his nose".

"The Twist" features a hypnotic piano jangle underneath brilliant lyrics awash in loneliness, and horniness, "Lift your dress enough to show me those shins / Let your hair stick to your forehead / Did you blush then, when our hips touched / I can't tell, we are already red". You will be lost in the oddly romantic, yet desperate, song long before it struts its way into a dance beat, knocking you on your ass. The painfully honest hook, "So twist, and whisper the wrong name / I don't care, nor do my ears / Twist yourself around me / I need company, I need human heat", is among their best. The somewhat vulgar, but no less effective, "Keep Yourself Warm" feels like the ying to the yang of "The Twist". Barbed riffs grit their teeth over a flickering keyboard, as the song serves as a giant flashing neon, warning sign against one-night stands for the lonely, "You won't find love in a hole / It takes more than f*cking someone to keep yourself warm". Its explosive cathartic conclusion is as pleasing as the plainly honest lyrics, "I'm drunk, I'm drunk / And you're probably on pills".

The Midnight Organ Fight triumphantly feeds your heart, soul, feet, and mind all at once, and will become an instant favorite with just one listen. Frightened Rabbit is one of those rare bands that may have perfected their sound on their sophomore effort with this modern classic.